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UF gets second chance at season opener

Florida Gators center Patric Young looks to go up for a shot past Alabama State Hornets guard Joshua Freelove during the first half on Sunday in Gainesville. Florida defeated Alabama State 84-35. (Matt Stamey/Staff photographer)

Last Modified: Sunday, November 11, 2012 at 12:16 a.m.

Facts

Today's game

After condensation issues wiped out Florida's season opener in the Navy-Marine Corps Classic against Georgetown in Jacksonville, the Gators will begin the season this afternoon in the more familiar confines of the O'Connell Center against Alabama State.

Florida showed some positive signs defensively in its one half played outside on the deck of the USS Bataan against Georgetown. The Gators led 27-23 at halftime, holding Georgetown to just 23 points and 35.7 percent shooting from the floor.

Florida again will be without point guard Scottie Wilbekin (suspension) and junior forward Casey Prather (concussion) for the game. The school website announced Saturday that Wilbekin is serving a four-game suspension, which means his season debut should be Nov. 20 against Savannah State.

In Wilbekin's absence, Florida senior guard Kenny Boynton will once again run the point. The Gators will likely again start a bigger frontline, with 6-foot-7 Will Yeguete at small forward, 6-10 Erik Murphy at power forward and 6-9 Patric Young at center.

With Boynton running the point, Florida was out of sync at times offensively, finishing the first half with eight turnovers. But UF's bigger frontline also helped the Gators end the half with a 16-14 edge in rebounding margin.

“Not having (Scottie) hurt us with some stuff, but it also allowed us to play big and we rebounded pretty well,” Murphy said

Under NCAA rules, the result of Florida-Georgetown is referred to as an interrupted game. Both schools could choose to finish the second half at another location during the season if they wished. But given the tight schedules and travel considerations of both teams, that's not likely to happen.

“I haven't talked to (Coach Billy Donovan) to see how he feels about it,” Florida associate athletic director Mike Hill said. “Looking at both of our schedules, it would really be hard to find a time to do it. So my gut would tell me probably no.”

Boynton, Young on Wooden list

Boynton and Young were named to the Wooden Award's Preseason Top 50 list.

Boynton, a three-year starter at shooting guard, has scored 1,589 career points and is 501 points of Ronnie Williams' school record. Young, the SEC scholar athlete of the year last season, posted four double-doubles in the first full year as a starter last season while averaging 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds.

The list represents the top 50 returning players in college basketball. Florida is one of eight schools with multiple players on the list, joining Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina State and Ohio State.

FLORIDA PROBABLE STARTERS

G Kenny Boynton 6-2 Sr. 15.9 ppg, 2.7 apg

G Mike Rosario 6-3 Sr. 6.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg

F Will Yeguete 6-7 Jr. 4.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg

F Erik Murphy 6-10 Sr. 10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg

C Patric Young 6-9 Jr. 10.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg

ALABAMA STATE PROBABLE STARTERS

G Josh Freelove 6-2 Jr. 12.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg

G Jamel Waters 5-9 Jr. 7.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg

G Stephawn Brown 6-4 Sr. 5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

F Luther Page 6-6 So. 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg

C Devonte' Neal 6-10 Fr. 3.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg

Notes: Florida has won 21 straight season openers and is 16-0 in season openers under Billy Donovan. … UF's last season-opening defeat was a 70-61 loss at USF in 1990. ... Florida has reached the Elite Eight for two seasons in a row and four times in its last seven seasons. … Senior guard Kenny Boynton (1,589 points) is 11 points shy of becoming the eighth Gator in school history to reach 1,600 career points… Alabama State finished the 2011-12 season 12-19 and 9-9 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. … The Hornets opened the season with a 97-53 loss to Middle Tennessee State. Freelove led the Hornets with 12 points and swingman Bobby Brown added eight points and three rebounds off the bench. … Alabama State finished last season 308th in the Ratings Percentage Index standings (RPI), which measures a team's record against its overall strength of schedule.

<p>Call it the season opener, part II.</p><p>After condensation issues wiped out Florida's season opener in the Navy-Marine Corps Classic against Georgetown in Jacksonville, the Gators will begin the season this afternoon in the more familiar confines of the O'Connell Center against Alabama State.</p><p>Florida showed some positive signs defensively in its one half played outside on the deck of the USS Bataan against Georgetown. The Gators led 27-23 at halftime, holding Georgetown to just 23 points and 35.7 percent shooting from the floor.</p><p>Florida again will be without point guard Scottie Wilbekin (suspension) and junior forward Casey Prather (concussion) for the game. The school website announced Saturday that Wilbekin is serving a four-game suspension, which means his season debut should be Nov. 20 against Savannah State.</p><p>In Wilbekin's absence, Florida senior guard Kenny Boynton will once again run the point. The Gators will likely again start a bigger frontline, with 6-foot-7 Will Yeguete at small forward, 6-10 Erik Murphy at power forward and 6-9 Patric Young at center.</p><p>With Boynton running the point, Florida was out of sync at times offensively, finishing the first half with eight turnovers. But UF's bigger frontline also helped the Gators end the half with a 16-14 edge in rebounding margin.</p><p>“Not having (Scottie) hurt us with some stuff, but it also allowed us to play big and we rebounded pretty well,” Murphy said </p><p>Under NCAA rules, the result of Florida-Georgetown is referred to as an interrupted game. Both schools could choose to finish the second half at another location during the season if they wished. But given the tight schedules and travel considerations of both teams, that's not likely to happen.</p><p>“I haven't talked to (Coach Billy Donovan) to see how he feels about it,” Florida associate athletic director Mike Hill said. “Looking at both of our schedules, it would really be hard to find a time to do it. So my gut would tell me probably no.”</p><p><b>Boynton, Young on Wooden list</b></p><p>Boynton and Young were named to the Wooden Award's Preseason Top 50 list.</p><p>Boynton, a three-year starter at shooting guard, has scored 1,589 career points and is 501 points of Ronnie Williams' school record. Young, the SEC scholar athlete of the year last season, posted four double-doubles in the first full year as a starter last season while averaging 10.2 points and 6.4 rebounds.</p><p>The list represents the top 50 returning players in college basketball. Florida is one of eight schools with multiple players on the list, joining Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina State and Ohio State.</p><p><b>FLORIDA PROBABLE STARTERS</b></p><p>G Kenny Boynton 6-2 Sr. 15.9 ppg, 2.7 apg</p><p>G Mike Rosario 6-3 Sr. 6.6 ppg, 1.4 rpg</p><p>F Will Yeguete 6-7 Jr. 4.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg</p><p>F Erik Murphy 6-10 Sr. 10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg</p><p>C Patric Young 6-9 Jr. 10.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg</p><p><b>ALABAMA STATE PROBABLE STARTERS</b></p><p>G Josh Freelove 6-2 Jr. 12.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg</p><p>G Jamel Waters 5-9 Jr. 7.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg</p><p>G Stephawn Brown 6-4 Sr. 5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg</p><p>F Luther Page 6-6 So. 7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg</p><p>C Devonte' Neal 6-10 Fr. 3.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg</p><p><b>Notes:</b> Florida has won 21 straight season openers and is 16-0 in season openers under Billy Donovan. … UF's last season-opening defeat was a 70-61 loss at USF in 1990. ... Florida has reached the Elite Eight for two seasons in a row and four times in its last seven seasons. … Senior guard Kenny Boynton (1,589 points) is 11 points shy of becoming the eighth Gator in school history to reach 1,600 career points… Alabama State finished the 2011-12 season 12-19 and 9-9 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. … The Hornets opened the season with a 97-53 loss to Middle Tennessee State. Freelove led the Hornets with 12 points and swingman Bobby Brown added eight points and three rebounds off the bench. … Alabama State finished last season 308th in the Ratings Percentage Index standings (RPI), which measures a team's record against its overall strength of schedule.</p>